Geography

Sierra Leone, on the Atlantic Ocean in West Africa, is half the size of
Illinois. Guinea, in the north and east, and Liberia, in the south, are
its neighbors. Mangrove swamps lie along the coast, with wooded hills and
a plateau in the interior. The eastern region is mountainous.

Government

Constitutional democracy.

History

The Bulom people were thought to have been the earliest inhabitants of
Sierra Leone, followed by the Mende and Temne peoples in the 15th century
and thereafter the Fulani. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to
explore the land and gave Sierra Leone its name, which means “lion
mountains.” Freetown, on the coast, was ceded to English settlers in 1787
as a home for blacks discharged from the British armed forces and also for
runaway slaves who had found asylum in London. In 1808 the coastal area
became a British colony, and in 1896 a British protectorate was proclaimed
over the hinterland.

Sierra Leone became an independent nation on April 27, 1961. A military
coup overthrew the civilian government in 1967, which was in turn replaced
by civilian rule a year later. The country declared itself a republic on
April 19, 1971.

A coup attempt early in 1971 led to then prime minister Siaka Stevens
calling in troops from neighboring Guinea's army, which remained for two
years. Stevens turned the government into a one-party state under the
aegis of the All People's Congress Party in April 1978. In 1992 rebel
soldiers overthrew Stevens's successor, Joseph Momoh, calling for a return
to a multiparty system. In 1996, another military coup ousted the
country's military leader and president. Nevertheless, a multiparty
presidential election proceeded in 1996, and People's Party candidate
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah won with 59.4% of the vote, becoming Sierra Leone's
first democratically elected president.